Mississippi Department of Education Mathematics Instructional Coaching Services
Assets & Needs Assessment #3
May 2022
As part of the third Assets & Needs Assessment, Teaching Lab conducted a variety of data collection activities, including a teacher survey and classroom observations, a student survey and analysis of student work samples, and a family survey.
Summary of Results
The majority of participating teachers gave positive feedback on the coaching experiences.
- 100% of participants who responded to the End of Coaching Feedback Survey reported that they were satisfied with the overall quality of the coaching and the support they received, that the strategies were easy to implement, and that they had already applied or would apply what they have learned to their practice.
Teachers improved their confidence in culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) practices, especially teaching curriculum to students from historically marginalized groups, revising instructional material to include a better representation of cultural groups, and adapting instruction to meet the needs of their students.
Teachers’ instructional practices improved over their time in the coaching series, especially related to Core Actions 2 and 3.
Students reported that their learning experiences improved over time for all constructs (experiencing CRSE, teacher-student relationships, self-efficacy, happiness and sense of belonging, and being challenged).
The most significant finding was the increase in teachers who assigned grade-level work (65% to 77%) and students’ proficiency on these tasks: for the first round of student work samples, 31% of students demonstrated proficiency on grade-level tasks, which increased to 53% of students for the second round of samples.
Although the response rate was low for the second administration of the family survey, results point to improvements in the family experience and their perception of student learning.
Section 1: Participant Feedback
Ongoing Coaching Participant Feedback
In summary, we see the following % agree or strongly agree with the above statements:
- 83% strongly agree or agree that they were fully prepared for the session.
- 86% strongly agree or agree that they responded to the group’s needs.
- 81% strongly agree or agree that they effectively built a safe learning community.
- 79% strongly agree or agree that they demonstrated deep knowledge of the content they facilitated.
- 83% strongly agree or agree that their coaching was clear.
Qualitative Feedback
The following qualitative feedback was given to the ongoing coaching feedback survey.
End-of-Coaching Participant Feedback
In summary, we see the following % agree or strongly agree with the above statements:
- 86% strongly agree or agree that the course has supported them in being responsive to students’ backgrounds, cultures, and points of view.
- 86% strongly agree or agree that the strategies they’ve learned through coaching have improved their instruction or their coaching and supervision of teachers.
- 100% strongly agree or agree that they have applied or will apply what they have learned to their practice in the next 4-6 weeks.
- 100% strongly agree or agree that the strategies they’ve learned are easy to implement.
- 100% strongly agree or agree that they were satisfied with the overall quality of the coaching series.
- 100% strongly agree or agree that they were satisfied with the coaching support they received.
Qualitative Feedback
The following qualitative feedback was given to the end of coaching feedback survey.
What went well?
What could have been better?
Additional Feedback
Section 2: Mindsets
Equitable Mindsets Summary
Teachers responded to seven items about mindsets, including three items related to recognizing race and culture and four items related to holding high expectations for all students on a 5-point Likert scale. Composite measures were created for each construct by reverse coding some items and then averaging responses across items. In this way, higher scores correspond to holding equitable mindsets.
| Pre1 | Post2 | |
|---|---|---|
Overall Score |
63% | 64% |
Recognition of Race & Culture |
58% | 55% |
High Expectations & Beliefs |
58% | 60% |
Self-efficacy in CRSE Practices |
73% | 77% |
| 1 n = 69 | ||
| 2 n = 40 | ||
Recognizing Race and Culture Items
High Expectations items
Teachers also responded to six items about self-confidence in their ability to engage in culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) practices on a scale from 0 (not at all confident) to 10 (extremely confident). Responses were averaged across items. Higher scores correspond to higher self confidence.
Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education Self-Efficacy Summary and Items
Section 3: Content and Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Teachers answered eight questions related to content and pedagogical content knowledge, including strategies for students with unfinished learning and equitable instruction. The score below is the overall percent correct (note: some questions had multiple correct answers and were worth more than one point).
Section 4: Instructional Practices
Teaching Lab staff observed teachers using the IPG rubric. Ratings of 3 and 4 on 4-point Likert scales and Yes on a Yes/No items were considered positive.
IPG Ratings
Core Action 1
Core Action 2
Core Action 3
Section 5: Student Learning Experiences
Teachers administered a student survey to at least one of their groups. Using 5-point Likert-type scales, students responded to eight items related to their teachers’ engagement in CRSE practices, three items related to teacher-student relationships, five items about self-efficacy, six items about happiness and sense of belonging, and five items about being challenged. Responses were averaged across items. Higher scores correspond to more positive experiences.
| Pre1 | Post2 | |
|---|---|---|
Overall Positive Student Learning Environment Score |
78% | 82% |
Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Education |
69% | 73% |
Teacher-Student Relationships |
81% | 86% |
Self-Efficacy |
82% | 86% |
Happiness & Sense of Belonging |
74% | 79% |
Being challenged |
88% | 90% |
| 1 n = 1031 | ||
| 2 n = 304 | ||
Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Education
Teacher-Student Relationships
Self-Efficacy
Happiness & Sense of Belonging
Being Challenged
Section 6: Student Math Proficiency
Teachers collected student work samples of a task that involved explaining mathematical thinking or reasoning from all students in at least one of their groups. Teaching Lab coaches first determined whether the task was on grade-level and whether it met the criteria of explaining mathematical thinking or reasoning. If so, then the work samples were scored using a 2-point rubric. Students who scored 2 on the rubric were considered to demonstrate proficiency on the grade-level task.
| Pre | n | Post | n | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student tasks on grade-level. | 65% | 160 | 77% | 199 |
| Students who demonstrated proficiency on a grade-level task | 31% | 52 | 53% | 60 |
Section 7: Family Experiences & Perceptions
Schools and teachers assisted in sending home a voluntary survey to their students’ families. Using Likert-type scales, caregivers responded to seven items related to teacher-family relationships and support, five items related to teacher-student relationships, and two items related to their child’s learning. Responses were averaged across items. Higher scores correspond to more positive family perceptions and experiences.
| Pre1 | Post2 | |
|---|---|---|
Overall Positive Family Experiences & Perceptions % |
77% | 85% |
Teacher-Family Relationships and Support |
77% | 85% |
Teacher-Student Relationships |
78% | 88% |
| 1 n = 107 | ||
| 2 n = 16 | ||
Teacher-Family Relationships and Support
Teacher-Students Relationships and Support
Caregiver Perceptions of Student Learning
How many assignments does your child complete?
Which best matches your belief about your child’s experience so far this year?
info@teachinglab.org